28
First he was found faultless in his five senses,
And next he was never failed by his five fingers,
And all his faith on earth was in the five wounds
That Christ received on the cross, as the Creed teaches;
And wheresoever this man found himself in battle,
His unwavering conviction was that, above all other things,
His fortitude flowed from the five joys
That the courtly Queen of Heaven received from her child.
For this reason the knight had beautifully painted
Her image on the inner half of his shield,
That when he looked upon it, his courage never faltered.
The fifth five that I find that fellow used
Was Generosity and Brotherly Love first,
Next his Purity and Courtesy were never besmirched,
And last his Compassion, first among virtues. These pure five
Were more ingrained in that knight than in any other.
Now these five multiples were truly found in this knight,
And each one attached to another, so that they never ended,
And were fixed upon five points, that never failed,
Nor overlapped at any point, nor sundered either,
Without ending anywhere I could find,
No matter where I began or stopped looking at that design.
Therefore this figure was emblazoned on his shining shield,
In royal colors of red gold and crimson,
The pentangle, called pure by people

of learning

Now gaily arrayed is Gawain

And lifting his lance in that hall

He bade them all good day

For evermore (he thought).

29
He spurred his steed and sprang away
So fiercely that sparks flew up from the stones.
All who watched that fine knight go felt sad at heart,
And all rightly said the same words to each other,
Grieving for that handsome one, "By Christ, it is such a shame,
That that man shall be lost, whose life is so noble!
To find his fellow on earth, in faith, is not easy!
It would have been wiser had we been more cautious,
And made that man a duke,
To be an illustrious leader of men would have suited him,
And better that than to be sliced to ribbons,
Beheaded by an eldritch man, all for foolish pride.
Whoever heard of a king taking the advice
Of an argumentative knight during a Christmas game!"
Great were the warm tears that welled in their eyes,
When that wonderful knight left those halls

that day

He tarried not a moment

But swifly went on his way

Many a bewildering path he rode

As the book I heard said.

30
So the knight rides through the realm of Logres,Sir Gawain, on God's behalf, though he did not think it much sport.
He passes many nights friendless and alone,
Never finding anywhere the foods that he liked.
He had no companion but his horse in those forests and hills,
And no one to talk to on the way but God,
Until went very far into northern Wales.
All the isles of Anglesey he keeps on his left side,
And crosses over the fords at the headlands,
There at Holyhead, until he came ashore once more
In the wilderness of Wirral. Few lived there,
Whom only God or good-hearted men could love,
And always he asked as he went, of men that he met,
If they had heard any talk of a green knight,
Or of a green chapel in any place thereabouts,
And all answered him no, that never in their lives
Had they ever seen a man of such a color